Gasifying apparatus



Oct. 23, 1934.

A. cuRloNl 1,977,872

GAS IFYINGy APPARATUS Filed Jan. 17, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTO RN YS ct. 23, 1 934. A CURIONl 1,977,872

GASIFYING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 17, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR 98 do BY ATTORNEYS Patented ct. 23, 1934 unirse i STATES GASIFYING APPARATUS Aldo Curioni, Larchmont, N. Y., assigner to The Gasolaire Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 17,

12 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for gasifying volatile liquid fuels and more particularly refers to improvements in devices for producing cornbustible gas from volatile liduid fuels, adapted for use in ccnnection with ordinary gas burners, Such as are found in gas stoves and like appliances. y

lt is obviously desirable that an apparatus of the character to which this invention refers be adaptable for use in connection with a Wide range of fuels, different fuels calling as a rule for different ratios :in the relative quantities of air and vaporized fuel entering into the composition of the gas delivered to the pipe line.

Another consideration is that such an apparatus may be called upon to meet quite a wide range of operative conditions as regards the :number of burners served, since in a stove one burner only may be used at one time and three or four burners at some other time. A suitable regulation of the amount of gas produced may, at times, be in order, although as a rule this is unnecessary because since the burners themselves form a part of the circulating system they a act, in a sense, as valves regulating the flow and,

therefore, the amount of gas produced.

It is also desirable that an apparatus of this kind be reduced to its utmost simplicity, in order to lower its cost of production, while increasing its effectiveness by reducing the number of working parts.

The primary ob-ject of this invention is accordingly to provide a novel and improved apparatus, consisting of a relatively limited number of parts, adapted to effectively vaporiae liquid fuels, said apparatus having a large generating capacity in proportion to its size.

Another object is to provide, in an apparatus cf the character specified, readily operable means for varying at will the relative proportions of air and fuel vapor in the gas delivered to the pipe line.

A further object is to provide, in a gasifying apparatus of the type above referred to, novel and improved means for comminuting the fuel and for projecting it into passages having a relatively wide evaporating surface, facilitating the rapid vaporization of said fuel by a current of air forced through said passages.

A still further object is to provide, in a gasifying apparatus of the character specied, novel, simple and effective means for automatically returning the unvaporized fractions of the fuel to the zone of action of the fuel-projecting means, so as to cause said unvaporized fractions to be 1933, Serial No. 652,233 (Cl. 261-92) immediately re-routed through the vaporizing cycle and avoid the possibility of the heavierv ends of the fuel being returned tothe supply.` tank to gradually lowerthe quality of the fuel therein contained. Y n

Other objects and advantages of the presentl invention will more fully appear as the description proceeds and will be set forth and claimed` in the appended claims: i

My invention is illustrated by way of exam-v ple in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side view in elevation of an rapparatus embodying my invention, 'partly` broken away and sectioned; Y

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof with the top re- 70 moved;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through vline 3 3 of Fig. 1; 1 fr,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical` section through line 4 4 of Fig. 3; e d

Fig. 5 is a detail front view of the fan forming part of the apparatus; y l

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section through. line 6 6 0f Fig. 2; n

Fig. 'Tis a fragmentary vertical section through 80 line 7 7 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is a detail View in elevation, partly sectioned, illustrating a type of tank which` may'` be used as a source of fuel supply.

Referring to said drawings, designatesfa 85 base upon which are mounted the gasifying apparatus 61 and the tank 62, constituting the source of liquid supply.

The gasifying apparatus comprises an elongated casing 63, provided with atop 64 and supported e' 90 by three uprights, such as 65. rIhe inside of the casing is divided by suitable vertical partitions into several chambers. A C-shaped chamber 66 runs along the two sides of the casing and its front end 6'7. The inner space delimited by the the walls of said peripheral chamber is divided by a transverse partition 68 and a longitudinal partition 69 into an air-supply and heating chamber '70, a fan chamber 'l1 and an air-distributing chamber '72.

One Vof the ends of the `C-shaped chamber 66, which I will call its inlet end, constitutes a housing "i3 for an impeller or splasher Wheel 74, said Wheel being used for projecting the fuel inthe vaporzing space or chamber, in a manner which I will later describe. e

Housing '73 is directly alongside air-distributingkchamber .'72, being separated therefrom by partition 75. Said chamber '72 communicates with chamber '70 by means of openings 76, provided through partition 68, and it also communicates with impeller Wheel housing 73, by means of openings 77, provided in partition 75.

Impeller wheel '74 is xed on shaft 78 of an electric motor 79, said shaft running transversely through housing 73 and chamber 72, and projecting beyond. partition 69 into chamber 71, wherel its free end carries a fan180.

The function of said fan is to draw the combustible gas generated by the apparatus through suction conduit 81, coaxial with shaft 78 and t'o': force it through a pipe line 82, issuing from the top 64, said pipe line leading to the place of `consumption of the gas. l

The intermediate portion-of chamberfthatis; that portion of said chamber `which runs from housing 73 to housing 83 for conduit 81, at the opposite end, constitutes the-vaporing chamber of the apparatus and to this end is fractionated in' a number of relatively shallow superimposed sections 84, formed by C-shapedchann'elled'. sheet' metal `members 85, the object ofthe resulting cellular constructionbeing-to provide'a large distributing and evaporating surface for the fuel delivered to said vaporizing chamber by the impeller wheel-74.

Air-supply andv heating chamber is provided with an inlet opening St-and contains means for heating the air passing therethrough, said heating means-being preferably constituted'by electric heating elements, which may conveniently be inserted in the same circuit with motor 79. For the sake of economy andconvenience, when a very volatile fuel is used, such as gasoline, I prefer to employ asheating means'- an electric bulb, or

bulbs, such as shown at 87, such a type of heating means possessing the advantages of low cost, ease of replacement, and effective prevention of the possibility of direct contact between the heating elements and thecombustibleega-sa The bottom of housing 73, whichl is somewhat lower than the bottom 88 of thecasing, contains a certain quantity of liquid fuel, just enough to submerge part of the lower peripheralr portionof the impeller wheel. The fuel-is'normally supplied to housing 73, from a supply tank, such as 62, thev level of" the liquid' within housing 733 being automatically maintained in any suitable manner. For instance, tank 62 may be divided into an up`- per mainl supply chamber 89anda lower auxiliary chamber 90, within which the liquid 91 is' main'- tained at the level of the liquid within housing 73' by a float controlled valve 92; Said Valve iscar.- ried by a stem 93, upwardly'pro'j'ecting from float 94` andl'is held'v tightly against its seat 95' when thev` liquidl in chamber 90 reaches itsnormal` level, as shown in Fig. 8. When the level of the liquid in chamber 90-` decreases, float 94 willl descend' and' new liquid Willbe admitted from chamber 89 into'.

chamberQO by valve 92, reestablishing theliquid within chamber 90'to its normal level; Y

Impeller wheelV 74 is preferably made out of a sheet-metal disk, having` a circumferential series ofy radially directed slits; such as 95 ('see' Fig. 4),

''-`f .the tongues defined by said slits being alternately twisted'to'one side and the other; so as toform a circumferential series of blades 96, disposedat an angle to' the plane of Arotation ofthe wheel. As stated, the lower portion of said blades is submerged in the liquid containedat the bottom" ofI housing 73, as Fig, 4 clearly shows, sothat rotationy of said wheel in a clockwise direction, with respectl to'Fig; 4, willfcause the same to act as an impeller-'projecting the-liquid inspray or' coma' "minut'ed formi with` great# force directly' intoy theinlet end of sections or cells 84 of the vaporizing chamber.

The portion of conduit 81 within housing 83 is provided with a segmental opening 97, completing the path to be traveled by the air admitted to chamber 70 through inlet 86. The suction exerted. by thel fan causes airl to enter chamber 70, where it is heated by bulb 87 and to issue through openings 76 into chamber 72, thence through openings 77 into housing 73 and then to follow the cellular sections of the vaporizing chamber 66 from housing 73 to housing 83, as indicated by the arrows in- Fig. 2, As the air leaves sections 84 of the vaporizing chamber, it enters conduit 81 through? opening97, and is sucked up by the fan and" forced thereby through pipe line 82.

The rotation of the fan is shared by the splasher Wheel, wl'iichacting as an impeller, projects the fuel particles into sections 84 of the vaporizing chamber, as explained, so that the air ilowmg through said vaporizing chamber from housing 73 to housing 83 carries the liquid particles throughout the length of the vaporizing chamber andE effectively vaporizes the same. The vaporizing actioni is, of course, assisted by the velocity of the' air current and by the fact that the liquid will automatically become spread upon the very largef surface provided by members 85. The heating of the air is,-of' course, a potent factor in increasing the rate of vaporization of the fuel.

The fuel is supplied to-housing 73 by a feed line 98; which is connected at 99 to a transversal tubular connection 100', running from' the pump housing 7'3 to the bottomof` housing 88. The less volatile portion ofthe fuel admitted to the vaporiaing chamber may-'not be vaporized in its entirety soithat some liquid fuel nia-y collect at thebottonrof housing 8'3` andiwhen this-happens', said u'nv'apor-i'ze'dfl portion of" the fuel is automatically redirected-1' byconnection 1-00 tothe zone of actionlof impellerwheel74; within housing 78. Said unvapori'zed portions will, therefore, once more be projected' through` the vaporizingchamber where they will eventually be completely vapor-ized', so that'` the heavy unvap'ori'z'edends will be automatically'prevented' fronfrreturning to the supply-tankandgraduallylower thequality of the fuel? therein contained. Their vaporization is, ofv course, assistedg by the fact that their temperature had-' 'already been raised before, when passing through the vaporizing chamber.

As st-atedl inthe premises, l? have found that' for the apparatusV to'- be suitable forv use under all practical conditions, both as regards the quality of fuel used" and the gas output, it is desirable to provide means for regulating the quantity and' composition of the gas delivered Ato the pipe linel by varying more or less the quantity of air in proportion to the fuel; vapor. To this end, conduit 81 is causedy to project beyond the outer wall 101 of housing 83, its projectingv end 102 being provided with a segmental openingr 108. Openings 9.7 and 103`are controlled by a sleeve valve 104, rotatably mounted within conduit 81, said sleeve valve' being provided with'and actuated by a front closure 105 through the intermediaryY of a bolt 106, provided. with'v a projectingA handle 107.

Sleeve valve 104 is provided'with two'segmental openings, 108, 109',v adapted to registra"withv seg- .causingr oneV of' openings 97, 103 to be fully` closediby the sleeve valvewhen the otherrone is 1= fully open by the corresponding openingy in'the,`

sleeve valve. i. 1 l

The drawings illustratethe sleeve valve about midway between its two extreme positions, and in said position it will be rseen that the gas delivered to pipe line 82 will be composed in about equal parts of the saturated gas issuing from the vaporizing chamber and fresh air admitted through opening 163 of conduit 8l. If the sleeve valve is rotated in a clockwise direction, with respectto Figs. 6, 7, the proportion of fresh air admitted to the mixture will gradually decrease, while the proportion of the gas issuing from the Vaporizing chamber will increase; and conversely, kif the sleeve valve is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, a weaker mixture will be delivered to pipe line 82 through the resulting increased proportion of air.

t is thus seen that I provide an extremely simple and efficient gas generating apparatus, .which due to its design possesses a large generating capacity in proportion to its bulk. The apparatus also possesses a remarkable adaptability for use in connection with all type of volatile liquid fuels, due to the simple arrangement of mixing or regu lating valve described.` i

It is obvious that where very considerable variations have to be met at the consuming end, .it may be desirable to provide separate controls for the air and combustible mixture passages, and it is within the scope of my invention lto doso.

While due to its simplicity and effective action, I prefer to use the impeller wheel type of liquid atcmizing and distributing means described, acting by impact and centrifugal force upon the liquid, it is within the scope of my invention to use other means for admitting to or projecting the volatile liquid fuel into the cellular sections of the vaporizing chamber. It is obvious that the arrangement described is very effective, because the impeller wheel both atomizes and impels the liquid with great force into the vaporizing chamber sections; furthermore, its action is continuous instead of being intermittent, as is the case with a pump, and is applied with equal effect to the heavy as well as the light fractions of the fuel. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the device is not solely due to the manner in which the liquid is directed into the vaporizing chamber, but also to the special construction of the vaporizing chamber itself; and effective vaporization will, therefore, also be had if an atomizing means other than that shown and described is employed.

It is to be noted that in the embodiment illustrated the action of the fan, which is mounted at the delivery end of the vaporizing chamber, is to create a depression in the vaporizing chamber, whereas in other devices heretofore known the fan was mounted at the inlet end of the vaporizing chamber, creating a certain pressure therein. This results in a further remarkable increase in the vaporizing efficiency of the apparatus.

The inventive idea may be carried into practice in ways different from that shown; the drawings will, therefore, be understood as being intended for illustrative purposes only and not in a limiting sense. I, accordingly, reserve the right to carry my invention into p-ractice in all those ways and manners which may enter, fairly, into the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a vaporizing device comprising a Vaporizing chamber, means to direct liquid to said chamber to be vaporized, and a source of liquid serving said directing means, means forming an integral part of the device for supplying a current of air through said chamber, means for admitting outside air to said air current supply means, to be mixed withthe gaseous mixture issuing from the vaporizing chamben'and adjustable means for regulating the relative amounts of air and gaseous mixture entering in the composition of the gas generated by the device, said adjustable means providing-'accnstantfvolume of combined air and gaseous mixture.

2. In'avaporizing device comprising a Vaporizing chamber, means to-direct liquid to said chamber to bevaporized, and a source of liquid serv-v ing said directing means, a port at the outlet end of saidchamber, a suction fan creating a suction within said chamber through said port and drawingair therethrough, anadditional port admitting outside air to the suction end of said fan,

paths of'travel for said liquid and also providingafrelatively large evaporating surface, means for projecting kliquid into said passages, and means directing a current of air through said passages.

4. In a vaporizing device of the character described, a vaporizing chamber consisting of a plurality of superimposed relatively long, narrow and shallow substantially horizontal sections, a supply of liquid in front of said chamber, and an impeller wheel partly submerged in said liquid atomizing and directing said liquid to said sections, by centrifugal action.

5. In a vaporizing device of the character described, a vaporizing chamber consisting of a plurality of superimposed relatively long, narrow and shallow substantially horizontal sections, a supply of liquid in front of said chamber, an impeller wheel partly submerged in said liquid, atomizing and directing said liquid to said sections, by centrifugal action, and means for redirecting to said liquid supply liquid unvaporized within said chamber.

6. In a vaporizing device of the character described, a vaporizing chamber consisting of a plurality of superimposed relatively long, narrow and shallow substantially horizontal sections, a supply of liquid in front of said chamber, an impeller wheel partly submerged in said liquid, atomizing and directing said liquid to said sections, by centrifugal action, means for redirecting to said liquid supply liquid unvaporized within said chamber, and means for creating a current of air through said chamber.

7. In a vaporizing device of the character described, a vaporizing chamber consisting of a plurality of superimposed relatively long, narrow and shallow sections, a supply of liquid in front of said chamber, an impeller wheel partly submerged in said liquid, atomizing and directing said liquid .to said sections, by centrifugal action, means for redirecting to said liquid supply liquid unvaporized within said chamber, a fan for creating a current of air through said chamber, and a shaft carrying both said impeller wheel and fan.

8. In a vaporizing device of the character described, a vaporizing.' chamber consisting! of a. pluirality of superimposed' relatively'long. narrow and? shallow sections, asupplyof liquidi'n frontfofsaid: chamber, an impeller wheel partly submergedf in. said liquid, atomizing and directing said: liquid to said sections, by centrifugal action, means for redirecting to said liquid supply liquid unvaporized' within said chamber, means for creating a current of airthrough4 said chamber, and adjustable means for admitting outside air tol thegaseous mixture issuing from said chamber.

9. In a vaporizing. device of the character described, a vaporizing chamber consisting of a: p1urality of superimposed relativelylongfmarrow and shallow sections, a supply of liquidfinf'ront olif said chamber, an impeller wheel partly submerged in said liquid, atomizing and directing said: liquidl to said sections, by' centrifugal action,. means` for redirecting to said liquid supply liquid unvaporized: Within said chamber, a suctionfan-.at'ther delieveryr` end of said chamber, a shaf-t carrying both said: impeller wheel and fan?, and adjustable means for admitting outside air to the suction end: of said fan and for regulating the flow of. gaathereto from said chamber. n c

l0. In a vaporizing device ofthe: character def scribed, a vaporiZi-ng chamber consisting otra. plu,h rality of` superimposed relatively long, narrow' andv shallow sections, a supply of. liquid; in.- front of said chamber, an-y impeller wheel partly sub--v merged in said liquid,l atomizing and direct-ing said liquid to saidsections, by centriiigal action,

means for redirecting to: said liquid supplyl liquid: unvaporized withinA said chamber, afan for. crea-t'-` Mazara inga cunrenimfarthroughisaid chamber, ashaft carrying both said impeller and fan, and a local source of.' hea/t for heating. the air admitted to saidichamber'..

l'l. a vapcrizing. devicef of the character descrihcd,.a;vaporizing chamber consisting of a plura'lity* of superimposed relatively long, narrow and'. sha1low'seutions;. a supply of. liquid: iny front of` said' cha-ruben'. an impeller wheel partly submerged: in; said' liquid. atomizing; and directing saicliqnirli tosaid sections; by centrifugal action, meansfor: redirecting to. said liquid. supply liquid unvapcrizedi Within: saida chamber; a. suction. fan at: the deliveryenct otsaid; chamber, a' shaft carry-i'ng both. sa/id impeller wheel and: fan, adjustableV means for' admitting outside4 air to the suction'` end of. said, fan' and for regulating: theflow of gas thereto from said chamber, and a` local seurcer ot heat for heating; the air admitted to said chamber-f..

12.. a'vaporizing. device of the character described,V a. vaporizing; chamber of cellular formation having: a plurality of vertically spaced substanti'ally' horizontal?. substantially' imperforate partitions'y each' adapted to collect and retain liquid spread in a thin lm,. saidpartitions forming' a plurality ofl relatively long narrow passages providing; relatively long paths of travel for said liquid?. and alsol providing a relatively large evaporati'ng surface,- meansfor projecting liquid into said passages, means directing a current of air through said. passages, and means. for preheating saidl air. n

ALDO CURIONI. 

